Celebrity jewellery designer Samantha Wills reveals the ‘savage’ line a date said to her after ghosting her – before she went on to launch a $10MILLION dollar empire
- Australian jewellery designer Samantha Wills built a $10 million dollar empire
- The entrepreneur revealed savage remark from a date that sparked her brand
- She started selling her jewellery at a market at age 22 while juggling office job
- At the time, she was dating a man named Jack* who invited her to an event
- But the days leading up to the date, she never heard a single word from him
- She went on to build a multi-million dollar celebrity-loved jewellery brand
Jewellery designer Samantha Wills has revealed how a date referring to her business a ‘little hobby’ after brutally ghosting her gave her the drive to build it into the $10million celebrity-beloved empire it is today.
The entrepreneur, from Sydney, was just 22 years old when she started selling her jewellery at a market as a side hustle while juggling a nine-to-five job.
At the time, she was seeing a man named Jack* who invited her to attend an event with him the following Wednesday.
But the days leading up to the event, she never heard a single word from him.
Jewellery designer Samantha Wills has revealed how a date referring to her business a ‘little hobby’ after brutally ghosting her gave her the drive to build it into a $10million empire
The entrepreneur, from Sydney, was just 22 years old when she started selling her jewellery at a market as a side hustle while juggling a nine-to-five job
‘He goes “okay, I’ll call you over the weekend to arrange for Wednesday”. Saturday comes, Sunday comes, Monday comes. I check my Nokia 5110 just to make sure it’s working… Tuesday comes, I don’t hear from him,’ Samantha told Kinda Sorta Dating podcast host Jana Hocking.
Clearly confused, Samantha said she was with a friend who was trying to figure out why her date ghosted her after Jack promised he would call her.
The following weekend, she was setting up her jewellery stand at the markets when her friend squeaked while flicking through a newspaper.
Samantha demanded her friend to show her what she found.
‘She goes “I know why he didn’t call you to go to the event on Wednesday”. She opened the paper and said “because he took someone else…”,’ she said.
‘I was really heartbroken.’
She went on to build the $10 million dollar eponymous jewellery empire with the likes of Drew Barrymore, Beyonce and Rihanna gracing the red carpet in her accessories before she famously shut down the business two years ago
As her friend comforted her, Jack her showed up at the market with his arm draped around his new lover.
‘He was coming this way to my market stall. I froze, and he’s like [in a patronising tone] “oh, so Sam, this is the little hobby you were telling me about?” she said.
‘It cut me. It stabbed into my heart. At first, I was sad, but then I got mad. I could feel this fire rising up the back of my neck. I was like “I’ll show him a hobby”.’
Little did he know Samantha was invited to exhibit her jewellery designs at the Australian Fashion Week – but she turned down the rare opportunity because she didn’t think she was ready at the time.
But after the savage remark from Jack, she decided to follow up on the offer.
‘I asked if that spot at Fashion Week was still available because if it is, I’ll take it. That was the fuel on the fire that pushed me over the boundary,’ she said.
‘I was like “alright, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to show you”. And I did.’
Her success didn’t come too easy after starting the business from her kitchen table.
She went on to build the $10 million dollar eponymous jewellery empire with the likes of Drew Barrymore, Beyonce and Rihanna gracing the red carpet in her accessories before she famously shut down the business two years ago.
*Name has been changed.